Florida's Natural History Museum

[Scarletwebslingr]

Okay, so Gainesville may not exactly be Central Florida, but it's close enough. Honestly, this museum is fantastic and free, short of special seasonal exhibits like the new Butterfly Forest thing going on right now.

Calusa family and hut:



Inside the Calusa Leader's House:



Florida Caverns:



The Hall of Florida Fossils- Evolution of Life and Land:



Pre-Cambrian life:



Florida Mastadon:



The fossil room with the Ground Sloth in the center:



Terror Bird (Titanis):



Giant Ground Sloth:



Giant Jaguar. Yes, we had Jaguars in Florida (hence the pro football team) up until roughly 5 million years ago that were up to 25% larger than the Jaguars of today:



Columbian Mammoth:



And that about sums up my awesome trip Well... there was this ugly guy too:

[HT_NSU]

Really cool! Thanks for sharing!

[peaches magee]

We have caverns?

[Scarletwebslingr]

We have taverns?

Oh yes! Mostly towards the panhandle ;)

[peaches magee]

Goodness I need to experience my state a little more, geez!

It's Caverns not Taverns though right? Haha I think your mind is here ---- >

[Scarletwebslingr]

Goodness I need to experience my state a little more, geez!

It's Caverns not Taverns though right? Haha I think your mind is here ---- >

HAH! Yea... I don't think you'd be surprised seeing a Florida tavern now would you? :P

[peaches magee]

HAH! Yea... I don't think you'd be surprised seeing a Florida tavern now would you? :P

Not at all...taverns are welcome! hehe It's the Caverns that are a FL shocker to me!

[BeachGurl]

I had no idea we had caverns either.... I love those! Ever been to Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, TN? I went to another really awesome one in Virginia I think it was.

How big was the Florida cavern?

[disneyfan168]

Looks like a cool place. Thanks for sharing.

[tiredoldspook]

People who never get above Central Florida would be amazed at Ocala, Gainesville, Pensacola, and the upper west coast lots of things that way. I have seen the cavern signs traveling on I-20 and on I-75 coming down to Orlando and Tampa.

Another great place in Central Florida is Blue Springs, The Manatees start coming in about the end of Oct till March I believe.

[peaches magee]

I need to explore more. I have been through Pensacola and to a few places in Tallahassee and Gainsville, I was amazed at how different those places looked compared to central and south FL.

[Scarletwebslingr]

I had no idea we had caverns either.... I love those! Ever been to Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, TN? I went to another really awesome one in Virginia I think it was.

How big was the Florida cavern?

It's pretty big. I'm sure the exact size, but here is the website. We should all adventure there someday soon!

http://www.floridastateparks.org/floridacaverns/